| Proposal title | Arrowleaf/Methow River Conservation Project |
| Proposal ID | 23012 |
| Organization | The Trust for Public Land and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (TPL/WDFW) |
| Proposal contact person or principal investigator |
| Name | Craig Lee |
| Mailing address | c/o TPL, 1011 Western Ave., Ste. 605 Seattle, WA 98104 |
| Phone / email | 2065872447 / craig.lee@tpl.org |
| Manager authorizing this project | Craig Lee |
| Review cycle | FY 2001 Action Plan |
| Province / Subbasin | Columbia Cascade / |
| Short description | The project is an acquisition of the 1020-acre Arrowleaf property on the Methow River- critical habitat for 9 ESA listed species. If not purchased the property will be subdivided into 70 lots and much of the upland and riparian habitat will be destroyed. |
| Target species | Fish - Spring Chinook, Westslope Cuthroat, Bull Trout and Steelhead / Carnivores - Grizzly Bear, Pine Marten, Lynx, Gray Wolf, Wolverine / Avian - Northern Spotted Owl, Goshawk, Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Peregrine, Pileated Woodpecker, Harlequin Duck |
| Objective | Task | Duration in FYs | Estimated 2001 cost | Subcontractor |
|---|
| 1. Acquisition of the key property essential to the presence of native priority fish and wildlife, on the site and throughout the Upper Methow ecosystem |
a. Acquire - Finalize TPL preparations to purchase the Arrowleaf property on December 21, 2000 (secure loans, grants, finalize agreements with private conservation buyers, approval of conservation easement by WDFW and resolve any title issues |
4/01/00 – 12/21/00 |
$520,000 |
|
|
b. Close - Simultaneous closings in which TPL purchases Arrowleaf from developer, conveys the conservation easement to WDFW, and sells four lots to conservation buyers. TPL purchase funds are derived from the sale of lots, philanthropies, loans |
12/21/00 |
$16,400,000 |
|
|
c. 3. Retiring Land Purchase Debt – TPL sells conservation easement to WDFW, the remaining two lots to conservation buyers, secures grants sufficient to retire debt and repay all loans obtained for closing the purchase |
12/21/00-12/01/01 |
$135,000 |
|
| Organization | Item or service provided | Amount | Cash or in-kind |
|---|
| CAPITAL SOURCES |
|
$0 |
cash |
| BPA |
Acquisition $ for conservation easement over +/- 600 acres |
$3,750,000 |
cash |
| Private Grants |
Acquisition $ to help purchase of fee title to 1020 acres |
$4,620,000 |
cash |
| Private Lot Sales |
Acquisition $ for fee title to 900 acres |
$5,630,000 |
cash |
| Washington Wildlife and Rec Program |
Acquisition $ for conservation easement over 400+/- acres |
$3,000,000 |
cash |
| NON-CAPITAL SOURCES |
|
$0 |
cash |
| TPL |
Transaction negotiation and facilitation, land planning, land mangement, restoration |
$1,900,000 |
cash |
| Methow Conservancy |
Conservation easement design, forest mgmt, weed control - after closing |
$10,000 |
in-kind |
| Methow Institute Foundation |
Land planning |
$10,000 |
in-kind |
| WDFW |
Conservation easement development, mapping, habitat data, grant proposal assistance |
$25,000 |
in-kind |
| US Forest Service |
" " " " |
$20,000 |
in-kind |
| The Nature Conservancy |
Grant proposal assistance, resource data |
$10,000 |
in-kind |
| Pacific Biodiversity Institute |
Mapping |
$5,000 |
in-kind |
This information was not provided on the original proposals, but was generated during the review process.
See previous ISRP review: "The ISRP was unanimous in viewing the acquisition of the Arrowleaf property as an important opportunity that should be seized upon by the Council and BPA. The Arrowleaf property is clearly desirable property with many wildlife and habitat features that approximate pristine condition. The proposers clearly describe the importance of the property, its near pristine condition, its position as a link between upper and lower habitats (particularly salmonid habitats), and the negative ecological consequences of not obtaining the property." Council should look at the cost of this purchase relative to other purchases.
Per the cover letter from the Trust for Public Lands for the 2001 Action Plan solicitation, the ISRP notes that in our review we discussed that the request to BPA was a portion of the $17M total cost for the project. The ISRP made a "B-list" recommendation for this project in the High Priority solicitation for a variety of reasons.